Ida+Peterson

On September 10, 1908, 27-year-old Mrs. Ida Peterson died in her Chicago home from gangrene of the uterus caused by an abortion perpetrated on September 6.

A woman named Dorothy Giles was held by the coroner, but released and not charged, for reasons not given in the source document. Giles' profession was given as "abortion provider".

Ida's abortion was atypical in that it was not [|performed by a physician].

Note, please, that with general public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see [|Abortion Deaths 1900-1909].

For more on pre-legalization abortion, see [|The Bad Old Days of Abortion]

Sources: [|Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database]



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